Jim strongly believes that he will be able to obtain an executive post in a large company by taking a mere course in public speaking and by knowing a little about radio – engineering.
TOM: “ Thanks – that’s good news.
But what has public speaking got to do with it?
JIM: It fits you for – executive positions!”
Here he is saying that public speaking is the way forward to attain an executive’s post, but we know that this dream will not be fulfilled as he is being over – optimistic and that he will not get very far with such a meaningless degree. In one aspect he is an idealist who lives in a perfect world (not reality), where the American Dream is possible to achieve, but in another he is a hard working individual for whom the sky is the limit. Not only will he not get very far with such a ridiculous degree, he also has the Depression and the Second World War hanging like a dark cloud above his head.
As we live in a time period after the War, we can foretell that young men like Jim and Tom will be conscripted to fight on the frontlines and they may possibly lose their lives.
AMANDA: “ And radio engineering? A thing for the future!”
When Amanda declares this we realize that this cannot be true as the era of television does not really elevate until after the Second World War and by that time Jim may well have died or have been injured. In one way or another we can almost guarantee that Jim’s dreams will never be satisfied due to the many things that will prevent him for accomplishing any of his dreams.
Tom also believes in the American Dream but in a different way to Jim. He feels that adventure is the only way to lead life, as it does not carry responsibilities and you can take each day as it comes. He only dreams about adventure and he is stopped from leaving by the loyalty he has towards his mother and sister. He partially relies on Jim to help him leave St Louis because if Jim were to marry Laura and look after Amanda then Tom could leave, but his fantasy comes crashing down upon him when he discovers that Jim is already spoken for.
Tom also fantasizes about becoming a poet as he writes many poems and is given the nickname ‘Shakespeare’ by Jim. He longs to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he is stopped by his loyalty for Laura and Amanda because he knows that they need him to support them. Yet again we perceive that even if he does not ‘escape’ he will be called up to fight in the War and may well be killed. His dreams remain suppressed until the end of the play when he departs through the fire escape, away from the prison, which he called home and out of Laura and Amanda’s lives forever.
“ I descended the steps of this fire escape for a last time and followed, from then on, in my father’s footsteps, attempting to find in motion what was lost in space -”
However, after he leaves, he is drawn back to the apartment where he gives his final soliloquy. From this, we establish that he is still haunted by the memories of his sister.
“ Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!”
He is ridden with guilt for leaving her and in the film version he looks and sounds more depressed than he did before he left his family. Guilt took him by surprise, as he never thought he would feel this way because he would be so contented with his new life.
“ It always came upon me unawares, taking me altogether by surprise.”
This show that he did not think properly about the aftermath of his departure and that he did not take the consequences into full consideration. All of Tom’s dreams go unfulfilled due to these haunting memories of Laura.
“ Perhaps it was a familiar bit of music. Perhaps it was only a piece of transparent glass-”
This indicates that wherever he goes so will the memories and he will forever be troubled by the fact that he left his sister for adventure, which he still did not obtain.
Laura lives in a dream world more than she lives in reality. Her dream world consists of beautiful glass creatures about which she makes up imaginary stories.
“ I’ll just imagine he had an operation.”
She uses this to withdraw from reality because she does not want to face the fact that she is crippled and that her life is not developing as she wishes. She dreams about Jim who is her knight in shining armour and he is the one thing in life that she wants. She believes that Jim is the only person who can make her truly happy and is the only one who will be able to provide her with a secure and happy future. In reality this is not true because if she is as pretty as she is in the film version then she could be happier with other men who have better lives than Jim. This proves that she has a very limited focus and is very narrow-minded. When Jim drops the bombshell that he is already engaged to Betty, it is as though Laura’s entire world has collapsed owing to the destruction of her dreams.
“ The sky falls.”
This stage direction gives us the evidence of this because the sky represents Laura’s world/dreams and just as in reality, if the sky were to fall as would the rest of the world. . When Jim tells her that she is special, she does not listen to him properly and interprets it as she wants. She feels that Jim is saying that she is special to him when in reality he is telling her that she is an individual and she is special in the sense that she has very good qualities. Her dreams remain unaccomplished, as the main focus is Jim who ‘abandons’ her. Laura is not really willing to try with anyone else as she thinks that he is the only chance she has to lead a normal life. After Jim leaves, she goes back to not really knowing how to lead life and does not even attempt to make something of her life after Jim’s rejection of her. This leads us to think that she almost certainly will grow up to be an ‘old maid’ – the film makes this explicit.
Amanda lives most if her life in the past and seems to be the only character in the play who does not entirely dream about herself. She dreams about her children’s futures and it is all thrown in her face when Laura’s one and only gentleman caller and Tom leave. She cares mostly about her daughter’s future, as Laura is shy and crippled. She wants a gentleman caller for Laura because she knows that Tom is not willing to stay to look after Laura when Amanda dies, so she needs to be assured of Laura’s security for the future.
“ I know what you’re dreaming of. I’m not standing here blindfolded.”
However, we cannot help but be suspicious of her plans for Laura and we think that perhaps she has a hidden agenda. We feel that she wants to live the life that she never had in Blue Mountain through Laura, as her own life turned out to be miserable and disappointing, mainly owing to the fact that she married Tom and Laura’s father who left her for adventure. This why Jim’s departure seems to upset her the most. She hates to see all of her effort and hope go to waste. As well as Laura’s dreams being discontented so are Amanda’s. She takes the same view as Laura – that Jim is the only one who will ever make Laura happy. Her dreams also go unfulfilled due to Jim’s leaving just like her children’s. The factors that made it worse was that she had very high hopes and that she considered Laura to have more confidence that Laura actually had.
All of the dreams of the characters remain unfulfilled owing to Jim’s departure. The Wingfields rely upon Jim too much and this is why their lives become so miserable. All of their dreams remain suppressed until the arrival of Jim and at this point all their dreams have a chance of coming true. As they do not come true, the Wingfields give up all hope and this leads to Tom’s exiting. They do not consider other factors such as there are better men than Jim in the world and they end up even more miserable than they were to begin with – all because of a stranger they hardly knew. All the dreams of the characters in the play depend upon hope, which is why they go unsatisfied. Some of the dreams that the characters have, will threaten them for the rest of their lives, particularly Tom who has to live with the fact that he abandoned Laura. From this we can establish that none of the characters will ever have a very successful life and that they will never dream again because to them dreams just lead to disappointment. This is a constant theme in Tennessee Williams’ work – that all dreams are doomed to disappointment.
